Chief Steward Bai left in a hurry. Soon, two maids walked in and brought some Mystical Fruits in case Lu Li and Liu Yi were bored in their waiting. Lu Li and Liu Yi would not waste the free Mystical Fruits. They grabbed some and gobbled down.Rustle, rustle, rustle!
They waited for the time it took for three incense sticks to burn before Chief Steward Bai came back. He was not alone. There was a stunning lady following him.
As soon as Lu Li saw her, he could not keep his eyes away from her. Liu Yi looked at her and felt humbled.
The lady was so beautiful. To use one word to describe her, it would be… enchanting!
The lady didn’t look old. If not checked closely, she looked about the same with Liu Yi. However, she gave people a feeling that she was a married woman. Her body was outrageously curvy. She was wearing a light red dress with dotted flowers on it, which was not revealing. Her expressions didn’t show that she was parading her beauty. In fact, she looked dignified and she had a gentle smile on her face.
However!
When Lu Li and Liu Yi saw her, they both thought of the word "enchanting". They felt like there was an enchanting feeling buried deep inside her. Without showing it on purpose, she could give a first impression of enchantment. She was born to be so charming and inviting.
"Oh, this is Madam Yan. She is the Senior Chief Steward of our Chamber."
Chief Steward Bai coughed gently which alarmed Lu Li. He introduced Madam Yan to Lu Li and Liu Yi and told them with a smile, "We have evaluated the Blood Caterpillar Fruits you brought. Madam Yan was just pa.s.sing by. She wants to meet you."
Lu Li and Liu Yi secretly tried to feel it and they realized that they could not sense the qi and energy of Madam Yan. It could only mean two things. Either Madam Yan had no fighting capacity, or she was of such a high realm that they couldn’t tell.
Madam Yan smiled gently and bowed lightly while she said, "Dear sister, greetings. Greetings to you as well, little brother."
Madam Yan’s presence was so impressive. Liu Yi stood up uneasily and bowed in return, "Madam Yan, greetings!"
Lu Li had been in contact with Lu Ling’s splendid face for many years. So, he was kind of immune to girls’ beauty. Soon, he regained his composure. He thought about something and figured that the quality of the Blood Caterpillar Fruits must be good, or else Madam Yan wouldn’t be here in person. If so, he could not get too close to Madam Yan. Otherwise, it would be not easy for him to ask for a higher price.
Lu Li made up his mind and just nodded coolly and said, "Madam Yan, greetings."
Lu Li’s indifferent att.i.tude and calm tone made Madam Yan and Chief Steward Bai look at him in surprise. Many Family Patriarchs, let alone a young warrior such as Lu Li, couldn’t be so calm in front of Madam Yan.
Madam Yan reacted fast. She looked at Lu Li and said, "We have some preliminary appraisal of your Blood Caterpillar Fruits. The quality is good. However… we need further test to determine the efficacy is enhanced by how much. So, I will let someone to refine drugs first and see if the efficacy of the final products can be improved. As long as the efficacy is enhanced, we can have a nice talk about the price. What do you think?"
It was rational that they wanted to test the drugs and see if the Blood Caterpillar Fruits worked. Lu Li asked, "How long will it take?"
"Four hours!"
Madam Yan looked to Chief Steward Bai and said, ""In these four hours, you can tour around our Chamber of Commerce with Chief Steward Bai. Anything you like, as long as the price is below 1000 Xuan Crystals, you can have them. This will be my offer of apology."
Four hours was not a long time. Madam Yan was so courteous. It was like giving them 1000 Xuan Crystals for free. Lu Li and Liu Yi agreed. Madam Yan left with a smile. Lu Li and Liu Yi then was brought to the inside of the Chamber of Commerce by Chief Steward Bai.
Once they entered the shopping place, Lu Li and Liu Yi felt dizzy from what they saw. The inside was so s.p.a.cious. Several hundred of stores were there. That was only the first floor. There should be a second floor.
Lu Li and Liu Yi were intimidated by the stuff on the first floor alone. The price could easily be several thousands of Xuan Crystals. They saw a Ninth-rank Earth Grade sword which cost 10,000 Xuan Crystals…
Xuan Skills, pellets, armors, Xuan Artifacts, chariots, and Mystical Materials were all available. As long as one had Xuan Crystals, one could buy anything here.
Lu Li even saw some beautiful women in a store sold at expressly marked price. They were all female slaves…
Apart from spending several hundred Xuan Crystals on some pretty clothes for Liu Yi, they didn’t buy anything else after they looked around. Many things were too expensive for them.
After they went on for a bit, they saw a corridor in front which led to an underground s.p.a.ce. There were people going out and in. Lu Li asked in curiosity, "Chief Steward Bai, what are the things sold down there?"
"Slaves!"
Chief Steward Bai explained in a low voice, "Those are alien-race slaves sold down there. There are also alien-race girls and powerful warriors. Today, we just get a new batch. Do you two want to take a look?"
"Alien races?"
Lu Li never heard of them so he could not understand. Liu Yi explained in a gentle voice, "Our world is connected to many small worlds. There are alien races in the small worlds. There seems to be such a pa.s.sage in the Thousand-island Lake. Warriors of Big Families will go there to fight frequently. If they win, they can capture some alien-race warriors and women and bring them back to be slaves and sell at high prices."
Chief Steward Bai nodded and said with a smile, "Actually, the Thousand-island Lake is not only connected to one small world but three. So it is not an unusual thing to have alien-race slaves in the Thousand-island Lake."
"Go and take a look!"
Lu Li was intrigued. They went to a grand underground hall following Chief Steward Bai. Many people were down there, gesticulating at the cages. Lu Li and Liu Yi threw a few looks and were amazed.
Ten cages were in the hall with ten different alien-race people. Eight of them were women. Three of the alien-race pretty girls had wings on their backs. Lu Li and Liu Yi thought they had seen monsters. The other five alien-race girls had pointy ears and tails in their backs like female cats…
"That is the Feather Race and this is Cat Women!"
Chief Steward Bai explained, "Feather Race people can fly. But these Feather Race girls are too weak to fly up high nor long. As for the Cat Women, they are quite good at using their tongues, hey-hey-hey…"
With Liu Yi’s presence, Chief Steward Bai was not at a good place to elaborate. Lu Li faintly understood what he meant. When he saw the price tag on the cage, he quit looking at those alien-race women all together.
The lowest price for one Feather Race woman was 10,000 Xuan Crystals. Cat Women were even more expensive. Each one of them was more than 20,000 Xuan Crystals. One should know that a Spirit Concentration Pellet was only 500 Xuan Crystals…
Lu Li steered his look to the rest two alien-race warriors. The two warriors were of the same race, very ugly. They were dwarfs, only more than 3 feet tall. Their skins were s.h.i.+ny green. Evil glares filled their eyes which was really uncomfortable to look at.
Chief Steward Bai explained, "Green Dwarfs. These two’s… fighting capacity can be a match for warriors of the earlier stage of the Soul Pond Realm. They will be handy in guarding a family."
"Soul Pond Realm?"
Lu Li and Liu Yi looked at each other with surprise. How would they dare to sell warriors of the Soul Pond Realm? What if they killed their owners after they were bought home?
Chief Steward Bai could see the two were worried. He said with a smile, "You don’t have to worry about the safety. The Green Dwarfs all had Soul Worms implanted in them. As soon as their owners have the idea, the Green Dwarfs will be in insufferable pain and can even be killed easily. Now that we sell them, we must have them tamed. They will not harm their owners and they obey orders completely."
"Good stuff!"
Lights flickered in Lu Li’s eyes. Buying one Green Dwarf would mean they have one more fighters of the Soul Pond Realm. If they had five, they could compete with the Blood Evil Brotherhood.
"50,000 Xuan Crystals…"
Liu Yi cried out in surprise which alarmed Lu Li. He looked at the price tag on the cage and rolled his eyes.
Fifty thousand Xuan Crystals—selling a regular small family wouldn’t be enough for one. A family or force that could afford 50,000 Xuan Crystals must have several warriors of the Soul Pond Realm. Why would they need this kind of slaves?
What Chief Steward Bai added next cut off Lu Li’s idea of buying this kind of slave, "The Green Dwarfs are good eaters. They only eat special Mystical Materials. The Mystical Materials they eat a day are worth about 30 Xuan Crystals, so this kind of slave is not popular."
Thirty Xuan Crystals a day, which would be nearly 1000 per month and more than 10,000 a year. Even a Fourth-rank Family would find it hard to support this kind of slaves…